August 2018
Breakfast yumminess at Varsity Donuts in Manhattan!
Fun morning playing at the dinosaur exhibit and kids area in Manhattan's Flint Hills Discovery Center.
Waiting for Aunt Sara to join us at Q-Doba.
Towards the end of August we took a trip to Marble, Colorado with my sister-in-law Onda and her boyfriend Marc and stayed in a cabin belonging to their friends.
Marble has a population of less than 400 persons and is so remote that we did not have cell phone or internet reception while there. Surprisingly for a town so remote and small, there is a great bbq restaurant that does a brisk business serving probably the best bbq brisket I've ever eaten! The first day in town we went on a long hike and stopped at the bbq for something cold to drink. While waiting I spotted the young man in the picture below, he looked a lot like my second cousin's son who I had only ever seen on Facebook. After a bit, I spotted his Mom...my second cousin whom I have not seen in 30 years!
What a crazy coincidence and joy to run into them in this tiny Colorado town.
It was such a fun trip to the Marble and Paonia area.
One day we went to an orchard and enjoyed hard cider and then on to several wineries where we sipped wine and enjoyed the mountain views.
(can't believe I didn't get any pictures of Onda)
Another day was a trip to some hot spring pools. Nothing better then sitting in the hot water sipping on a bottle of water and looking out at the mountains while visiting with interesting companions! Picture perfect blue Colorado sky! There were three pools where the water cascaded from one to the next, each pool was progressively cooler than the one before. We spent most of the day in this middle pool!
Glass flower sculptures that caught our eye!
Onda and I both wished we could take them home!
One morning was spent fishing in the local lake and later taking a four-wheel only road up to the Crystal Mill, a beautiful remote trip up into the mountains!
And yes, I thought we were going to die on that road, it was very rugged and there was more than one turn or hill where you really couldn't see the road ahead, Bobby of course loved it!
(this picture came from the internet since I had left my phone back at the cabin)
We also spent lots of time playing dominos and sitting on the deck stargazing!
My sister-in-law is a wonderful cook and we enjoyed some fabulous meals and conversations around the table.
A trip I will always treasure.
September 2018
Took care of this little fella while his folks went to Vegas! We bought him a set of Magna Tiles, lots of building fun for both of us!!
Collecting 'treasures' from around the house kept him busy for hours each day. Everything from paper clips to soda caps, rocks and other weird miscellany, all sorted into brighlty colored paper cupcake holders!
Poppa makes for a great climbing toy while Cooper looks on!
Math is fun; a simple graphing exercise using Skittles and dice.
Talking to Aunt Sara on the phone.
October 2018
So much fun when your BFF comes to town all the way from Florida!
Robin invited me to be her +1 at her nephew's wedding held at Lake Lotowana. It was a beautiful and unique wedding full of love and laughter and I was honored to be invited. After the wedding we sat in her hotel room and talked for hours catching up!
Bobby got out some scrap boards and tools for Jackson to play around with. Bobby even got a bit misty because it reminded him of when he used to do the same thing with Josh.
Annual pumpkin carving party with the Rapp's and Teresa and Charlie!
Saturday visit to the Manhattan Zoo to take part in their Halloween event!
So brave to stick his hand blindly in the pots of goo!
Navigating the maze with Aunt Sara!
November 2018
I had been waiting for this day for a long time; board games with the grandson!
He caught on to Candyland quickly! And yes, the actual Candyland game is as mind numbingly boring as you remember but it sure is made fun when you are playing with a 3-year old who has never played it before!
This evening wasn't all organized board games though, there was plenty of time leftover for preschooler shenanigans! Love the Batman undies!
GNO with these awesome friends, still meeting monthly for 33 years!
December 2018
Another GNO; this one is our annual Christmas gathering and was hosted by Debbie who cooked us a wonderful dinner served up by her daughter with help from a friend!
Good times with lovely wise strong women.
Spent a few hours in Manhattan taking this little guy Christmas shopping so that he could pick out gifts for his Mom, Dad and his dog Cooper! He also wanted to pick out 'party' supplies for Christmas so we obliged and he picked out cute Santa plates, napkins, and cups and a table centerpiece. Love that he even thinks of such things!
Can't remember for sure where they were headed that evening but they sure look nice all dressed up!
Sara's mid-December graduation.
Proud of her for working so hard to earn her Masters in School Leadership.
Now we have three Baker grads in the family!
Playing a matching game he received for Christmas!
Tool box fun, another Christmas gift!
Morning coffee in their Christmas shirts!
The only good thing about all the kids living in Manhattan is we get to host them overnight at our house which means lots of extended time for visiting and hanging out together!
In their matching (sort of) Christmas shirts!
January 2019
Spent some time with this batman jammied boy in January while his Mommy and Daddy had some R&R in Hawaii! Is there anything cuter than a sleeping child!
This night he was taking his post-bath hair styling quite seriously!
Playing with an old favorite; color change Mater!
Build your own pizza night!!!!
Thanks Dillons for selling an easy pizza making kit to create some fun memories!
And it actually tasted good too!
Ahhhh, stringy cheesy goodness!
Can you tell he's humoring MeeMaw with this picture?
He really wanted to keep playing PJ Masks but MeeMaw persuaded him to stop for a posed picture to send to his Mommy & Daddy.
And here is my favorite picture from our time together;
unposed, full of glee, hanging out in his undies!!!!
Oh, and this picture is pretty sweet too!
My date for Chinese food!
Back in Lawrence, playing with a Christmas gift from Sara & Evan.
He kept saying 'it's so magic'! It was a clear marker that when used on the picture would reveal hidden objects in the picture as well as add color, pretty dang cool!
Bobby's birthday at Carlos O'Kelley's in Manhattan!
All caught up.
Life is good.
